Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A few weeks ago I was corresponding with a RV friend and he told me of his leaving all products that contain gluten out of his diet. He detailed the health benefits he experienced in just two months of foregoing any product that contains cereal grains. And he loves(d) cinnamon rolls!

I explored the concept of Paleo diets and came to the conclusion that I cannot follow them to the letter but I can emulate the concept as closely as possible. This is the result. Doggone tasty too!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

So...

As a result of my 'forced' retirement my path seems to be diverging from earlier ideas and expectations.

As detailed earlier on this blog, I’ve met a lady – on the internet of course since we’re modern boys and girls – and we’re getting along famously. Personalities seem very compatible and our point of view on many of the issues of the day seems to closely coincide – not necessarily match mind, but not too disparate. I’ve visited and she’s gonna visit in April and then I’m planning on spending September with her, and etcetera.

She’d be more than happy to come and spend a decade or two living in a caravan traveling hither and yon, but for the fact that her 16 1/2 year old daughter isn’t out of school just yet. Yes, Bri is a decade younger than me.

One more small issue to deal with – she’s lived on Gran Canaria for the past 25 years. She’s loathe to leave her job as personal assistant to the CEO of a multinational family owned hotel chain.

Unless some unexpected event or personality quirk derails this train it seems that I’m gonna go spend a bit of time living in Spain and on Gran Canaria island. Actually, it’s a good thing in my mind. Not too much to get bored with there – have to learn a new (for me) language – Canarian Spanish – a bit different than ‘regular’ Spanish I’m told. Bri has to still work so that leaves the entire day for me to play a ‘house husband’ role with the cooking and gardening chores. And then if I buy a small motorcycle or scooter I can easily explore the small villages along the shore and in the mountains. So, a new culture to immerse myself in and stuff to see, learn and do.

Another plus is the ability to travel and sightsee in Europe. Since Bri has been in the same position for 17 years and working for the company for 20, she gets significant vacation time and we can and plan to take some of that time for a week in Spain, a week in the wine country of France, Ireland in August and Italy often.

Now, to paint and sell the house here in SA, get to 62, start the pension and SS, deal with the visas and other red tape that it will take to get into Spain as a resident while keeping all of the paperwork and red tape of the USA at bay. I expect to move in about 12 months – or just shy. It’s gonna be an interesting year!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Austerity is damn scary. Witness the riots in countries where it is a societal scourge.

Personal financial austerity is scary too.

Going from a 'comfortable' mid-five figure income that paid the bills and allowed frequent spending on small 'luxuries' to bare bones, think about it for a week, only if it's a necessity spending is stark.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Boss was hard on my case last year. But as you might have guessed from reading these entries, 2011 was not the kindest year in my life. But, that didn't matter to her. Rah, rah and rah. Had a 1:1 meeting just a few days ago and she wasn't as hard-core critical as she had been just a month before. So, kinda suspected it was coming.

Once it was common knowledge a couple weeks ago that there were lay-offs in the works I brought most of my important personal stuff home.

So - between the severance package - OK, not great and (hopefully) 26 weeks of unemployment I'll make it until the house sells - that fact hopefully sooner than later.

But no matter as I start (again hopefully) my pension from a previous job in December and I'm also eligible for SS in December, albeit at a 75% rate.